The End of the World
by Lynxnn
Summary: Brontë and her friends and their families attempt to maneuver a world they do not yet understand. But they will soon learn it's eat or be eaten, and the new rules of survival will bring them to their knees.
1. Chapter 1

**Before the World Ended**

My name is Brontë Birch. Brontë like the author, Birch like the tree. I'll be the first to admit it's a unique name. The story behind it is weirder. My parents are both college lit professors and worshipers of the written word. They wanted to name me after a famous author or book character to commemorate their obsession. When my mom went into labor my dad was giving a talk at Stanford University and had his phone off. My grandpa got her call and drove her to the hospital.

When my grandpa got her call he was at the horse track winning big on a stallion named Brontë. After I was born my mom couldn't think of a name and grandpa suggested that. Seeing as Emily Brontë was my moms favorite author she chose the name. We didn't learn the truth until my 9th birthday party when grandpa had a little too much of his 'fun juice'.

Whenever I meet new people I generally tell them the first version of my name rather than the second. The year of my 10th birthday wasn't a good year for my family. My parents got divorced and my dad moved to the Bahamas with his new girlfriend. My mom was let go when the college went through a money drought. We moved from California to Montana and moved in with Gram and Gramps.

Everything changed on February 14th, my seventeenth birthday.

 **The End of the World**

"Did you see the news?" I asked my friend Kelianne. The phones receiver crinkled as I heard her shifting around, probably to turn on the TV.

"Is it more stuff about the infected?" she guessed.

"What else would it be about? They've sent in swat teams to the big hospitals, it's insane."

"Ew, gross," Kelianne gasped. I assumed she'd just turned the TV to NBC news. They were covering a story about an infected woman who bit a chunk off her husbands face.

"I know right, totally disgusting. What do you think the disease is? Like mad cow or something?"

"Who knows, Muldoon has things pretty under control," she said in a reference to our town. Muldoon, Montana took small town to a whole new level. It was a jumble of houses at the base of a mountain, mixed in with a few general stores and a small cinema. Our highschool had less than two hundred students. Back in California there was 2000 some kids going to my school. But since we had a small town it seemed the infection hadn't spread yet. There was a few cases at the hospital of patients seemingly resuscitating only to attack their nurses.

"The good news is school across the country is being canceled for a few weeks until the CDC gets a vaccine released."

"Sweet, you me and Josh should go on a senior year hiking trip then," she suggested. Josh was our third friend, her neighbor. He went to our high school last year but graduated early and now works at the Hunters Boutique, from guns to gear is their motto.

"I doubt my mom will let me out of the house with all that's been going on. She's practically stockpiling and waiting for doomsday," I grumbled over the line. Kelianne muttered 'same.'

We chatted for a few minutes before she had to go have dinner. I hung up the phone and went into the kitchen to help my mom prepare whatever health nut stuff she'd bought today.

...

The fire alarms were blaring, they seemed to get louder each minute. However the fire department was otherwise occupied with the hospital and wouldn't have time to go to the cinema. Practically overnight Muldoon had gone to hell. Josh Kelianne and I were out for a late movie, and then we smelled smoke coming from the consessions room. A second later the fire alarms started, but the exits were locked.

So now me and my three friends are trapped in a burning theater with fifty other terrified people. Everyone is on the phone, either calling 911 who has put us on hold, or calling their family to say bitter goodbyes.

"Brontë!" Josh shouted. I glanced up, him and Kelianne were on the movie. I pulled myself to my feet and yanked my shirt up over my nose to keep some of the smoke out of my mouth. Sweat dripped down my forehead. I didn't know were the fire was, but everything around me felt hot to the touch.

"Were are we going?" I coughed out through my muffled fabric.

"Someone broke on of the doors open," Josh answered and dragged me towards the exit. Kelianne was outside waiting for us with the truck already pulled up, the doors open. Josh slid into the passenger seat and I rushed into the back. Then we sped out of that parking lot like the devil was on our tail. I looked out the window. Flames leaped out of the cinemas roof. It wouldn't be long before the whole structure collapsed. And it wasn't the only building on fire.

It seems an arson had had a field day. Infected wandered the streets, snapping at anyone who crossed their paths. It was so weird looking at them, they stumbled with a lopsided gate and had glazed over eyes. It was like they weren't even human anymore.

"Brontë? Brontë are you listening!" Josh demanded. I snapped out of my thoughts.

"Sorry, what were you saying?"

"Kelianne is dropping me off mat my house, and then at yours. Get your parents and you cars and anything you need - then meet up at the Hunting Botique in two hours," he instructed. I mutely nodded. Everything seemed surreal. I checked my phone, no messages or calls from my mom. Surprising since police sirens were dashing all across Muldoon. I didn't let myself worry, she was the worlds heaviest sleeper.

Kelianne finally reached my house, dropping me off. Her truck took off down the road to her house as I stood slightly miffed on my driveway. Were we actually fleeing Muldoon with our family's? Was this what it had come too? I knew things were bad in the big cities, but I never expected my small town to succumb to such chaos.

 _Two hours, meet at the Hunting Boutique._ A voice in my head whispered. It put some pep in my step and I ran up the driveway, taking the key from under the flwoer pot to unlock the front door.

"Mom!" I shouted the the dark and silent house. "Mom we have to go, infected are everywhere!"

A figure moved in the shadows. At first I thought it was an infected who had somehow gotten inside. But the figure was clearly hiding. I saw them raise something. A chilling sensation told me they were holding a gun. I dropped to the ground right as they fired, the bullet disappearing out the open front door and into the night. Gram and Gramps had both passed years back, but mom left Gramps study relatively untouched. And I knew he kept a loaded revolver in his desk.

I scrambled along the floor before pulling myself to my feet and dashing through the house in darkness as two more bullets were fired somewhere. I flung open the study door and wrenched the desk drawer open. My fingers locked around the gun and I spun around right as the intruder froze in the doorway of the study. We both stood still, guns pointed, each of us gasping for air.

I didn't waste time negotiating. I fired.

It didn't register for a few seconds that I'd shot someone. But when the man started screaming bloody murder that snapped me out of my stupor. He dropped his gun and clutched his shoulder. I picked up his gun and smashed it over his head, knocking him into consciousnesses.

"Mom!" I shouted the the eerily silent house. "Please answer me, Mom!"

I found a light switch and blinked at the harsh glare of florescence. Lamps were knocked over and couch cushions flung about. Looks like the intruder had been a robber, and an unlucky one at that. I sprinted about the house. My mom wasn't anywhere. I pulled out my phone and called her four times. She didn't answer once, but I didn't hear her cell in the house meaning she had it with her, wherever she was.

I left a message saying I was meeting Josh and Kelianne at the Hunting Boutique. Then I set to work. I filled on of my suitcases with running clothes, sneakers, socks, underwear, and jackets. I shoved soaps toothbrushes and paste and hygiene products into a Ziploc which I dropped onto the pile of clothes. In another suitcase I loaded up what my mom had been stockpiling after the new stories about the infected started. Canned foods, protein bars, vitamins and medicines alike filled that case to the brim. And in the third suitcase I loaded up my camping gear.

Gramps used to take my camping all the time, so I had some high quality stuff he had given me as Christmas presents over the years. A collapsible tent, waterproof thermal sleeping bags, solar powered flashlights, handheld water purifiers, and anything else I found in my closet that could be used for survival. I wasn't being nitpicky.

I took the three suitcases to the garage and threw them in my moms truck. She had three spare tires in the bed of the truck as well. I ran back inside and grabbed a small backpack. Inside I threw in a family photo album, a few books, and other such memorabilia. My heart was racing, I knew I was forgetting something important.

"Niko!" I practically screamed. My cat, how could I forget my cat? I found her hiding under a bed. I unceremoniously shoved her in my backpack as well, despite her indignant hisses. I dropped the backpack in the passengers eat of the truck and Niko crawled out and made herself cozy on the seat. I grabbed her twenty pound bag of catfood and threw it in the truck bed as well. I still had thirty minutes before I needed to get to the Hunting Boutique.

I put all of grandpas guns in the truck, along with every case of ammo I could find. I grabbed a couple quilts as well for Niko to sleep on. The last thing I grabbed before I left the house was my locket. It wasn't a regular locket, there was a small turner on the bottom. It was a tiny music box that played Fur Elise, my dad had given it to me before he left.

I checked on the unconcious burgalur, he could;ve been dead at this point from the blood loss. I grabbed him by his shoudlers and dragged him outside of the house, he was a lot heavier than I thought and it took all of my strength to get him to the road. Running back inside I took a sharpie I scrawled in giant letters on the main wall of the house: WENT TO HUNTING BOUTIQUE

Then I broke every traffic law known to man in order to reach the boutique. I recognized the two trucks in the parking lot as Kelianne's and Josh's. I parked, grabbed Niko by the scruff, and banged on the front door of the store. Josh opened it a second later and pulled me inside before pulling down the blinds so no-one could see inside from the street. It was insane outside, everyone was running around the streets looking for family as fires blazed from within buildings. Infected hobbled around dangerously.

"Brontë where is your mom?" Kelianne asked, alarmed. I felt tears well up in the corner of my eyes.

"I thought she got my phone call and would be here, she wasn't at home. There was a burglar in my house..." I couldn't continue. Kelianne enveloped me in a hug and rubbed my back. She guided me to a chair and set my down.

"It'll be okay, your mom is fine, I'm sure." she comforted. The tears finally stopped and I was able to compose myself. I glanced around the store. Josh had both his parents and his younger sister with him. Kelianne had both her parents with her, but her older sister was away at college. Hopefully safe. And I had Niko, but no mom or dad. I hugged my cat a little tighter.

"What are we going to do?" I whispered.

"That's what we've been trying to figure out. Muldoon isn't safe. Clearly. But we don't know where to go besides to woods," Josh sighed and rubbed his forehead. The adults were all in a circle arguing. Drive to the coast, no to the mountains, drive to Canada, just start driving.

"My cabin!" I suddenly exclaimed. All eyes were on me. Kelianne clapped her hands, she knew what I was talking about.

"It's a long drive through the mountains, but my grandpa has a cabin in the mountains by a lake. It has it's own generator and water filtration system, and there is plenty of room for all of us," I explained. Silently I added, _Plus that's the first place my mom will look for me, if she's out there._

"It might be our best option," Josh's dad amended. Everyone seemed to reach an agreement, my cabin was our destination. We ransacked the boutique of practically everything. It was, after all, a survival/camping shop. We found it quite useful. Before we left I wrote another message for my mom on the walls, telling her where I was headed next. I got in my truck and set Niko down on the quilts. Josh and hi family got in their car and Kelianne and hers got in theirs. I lead the way down the road towards the cabin.


	2. Chapter 2

**After the World Ended**

It's been two months since we fled Muldoon and high tailed in to the mountains. We found my grandpa's cabin in its utmost isolation. I have no clue why Gramps would build a three story mansion in the middle of a forest high in the mountains, but he was a heavy drinker and maybe not all there. Regardless it probably saved our lives. There are five bedrooms. Josh's parents, Vicky and Steve, share a room on the second floor. Josh and his five year old sister Lily share a room just across the hall from them. Kelianne's parents, Miranda and Ivan, share a room also on the second floor. Kelianne and I share the only room on the third floor. One room remains unoccupied, waiting for my mother.

We've created a system to keep the peace and make gathering resources as efficient as possible. Essentially we kids have no say in this democracy and will stay in our rooms while the adults 'handle things'. Since my parents aren't present I'm treated as more of an adult, much to the chagrin of Kelianne and Josh.

Since I know how to keep the generator and water systems running that's my job. Just constant attention to the machinery. Steve and Ivan go deer hunting for meat, and occasionally fishing if they don't shoot anything. Miranda and Vicky forage for herbs and berries. Luckily someone grabbed a book on edible plants from the boutique. Lily Josh and Kelianne are left with cooking and cleaning since they aren't allowed to leave the cabin.

But I've been sneaking Josh and Keli out at night to show them how to make sure the generators work and how to fix them if anything goes wrong. They don't know why I'm teaching them this information, but it's an opportunity to do something so they listen. I'm teaching them because I'm not going to stick around the cabin much longer, I can't sit around with my ducks in a row while my mom is out there.

Dead or alive I have to find her.

I've waited two months to make sure everything at the cabin has set into a stable routine, I need to know my friends and their families will be safe while I'm gone, and if I never return. I've made sure of that, they won't need me anymore.

...

The night I leave I write a long letter to every individual at the house, thanking them and apologizing for my vanishing act. I can't tell Josh my plans, he'll try to stop me from leaving. But I know Keli won't tell, she's my best friend and I have to say goodbye. I gently wake her, her blue eyes open and she looks up at me in confusion. I quietly tell her I'm leaving to look for my mom.

She doesn't even try to talk me out of it, she simply gets out of bed and helps me pack my stuff. I'm only taking one suitcase with a few changes of clothes. She acts like my mom, making sure I have a jacket and socks. I take a small first aid kit and one of the handheld water purifiers. Keli wraps up a few pounds of salted meat and bread. I shove my memorabilia in my backpack and take the suitcase out to my truck which sits, unmoved, by the back of the cabin.

Without thinking I take Niko with me. It's stupid, she's a cat and I know she's much safer at the cabin, but I can't bear to be all alone. I hold my locket as I start the car, praying the rev of the engine doesn't wake everyone inside. No lights turn on so i know I'm in the clear. Kelianne stands on the porch and waves goodbye to me as I drive off. I glance at Niko who is sound asleep on a quilt in the passenger seat.

"Let's go find mom," I whisper to her calico figure.

* * *

I had to pull over around 3 am to sleep. I was fighting fatigue and didn't want to fall asleep at the wheel. I crawled into the back seats of the truck and tried to get comfortable, easier said than done. Eventually I opened the suitcase to get a quilt when my fingers brushed again something metallic. A gun.

Keli must have slipped it into my bag when I wasn't looking. I found several boxes of ammo, over five hundred rounds. Count on best friends to have your back. I didn't want to take a gun because I knew they might need it, but Keli knew I might need one as well. I think I slept a little sounder knowing it was there. And Niko cuddled up to me, purring softly in my ear.

Dawn light woke be up at 6 am. I drove the rest of the way to Muldoon. My little town that I'd spent the last seven years in was burned. Most of the houses in the neighborhoods were unharmed. But the hospital, fire and police stations, grocery stores, and the cinema, were all ashes. Hundreds of infected wandered the streets. I had never seen so many, and it was terrifying. They crowded around the truck and pounded against the metal as I tried to drive through the crowd.

Some were covered in blood, some were burned, some had missing limbs. The smell was overwhelmingly foul. Niko wedged herself under the seat, terrified of the banging they were making. Her yellow eyes were wide as saucers and she let out hisses every few minutes. I was so stupid to take a cat with me on my mission.

Looking closer at the infected I could tell something was immensely wrong. Their eyes had no soul, it was like they were dead. I knew no vaccine on earth could undo what had happened to these people. I lowered my foot on the gas pedal and broke free of the crowd. I didn't know were to begin looking for my mom, and there was no way in hell I was getting out of the truck.

I supposed I had better start scanning the crowds of infected for a sign of her face - although that had my stomach churning. What would I do if she _was_ infected? I pretty much just sat in the truck and glanced at every passing thing. Then something walked past my truck, or rather, someone.

They were covered in blood and had organs draped around their shoulders, but they were very much not infected. Their eyes were wide and scared as they moved invisibly through the sea of people. I rolled down the window of my truck an inch.

"You!" I shouted. The person froze and looked around wildly, spinning slightly as they searched for the source of my voice. A few infected walked closer to the person, snarling as they scoped him out. He kept moving, pretending to be as infected as they were. I turned the key in the ignition and revved the engine, distracting the infected so the man could escape.

Just before the crowd became too dense to drive through I slammed on the gas and peeled out of there. I searched the streets but I saw no sign of the man. I looked through he review mirror at the crowd of infected slowly following my truck. I looked back out the front windshield and screamed. The man was right in front of my truck. I had to slam on the breaks to avoid hitting him.

I quickly rolled down my window some more.

"Hello! Hi, my name is Brontë," I introduced myself since I didn't know what else to say. The man didn't respond. He merely wiped the blood off of his face and took off his poncho which was covered in blood. Underneath the bloody poncho was clean clothes. Without a word he stashed the poncho by a mailbox and opened the passenger door to my truck. I stared at him, dumbfounded. He quirked an eyebrow.

"Drive," he commanded. I obliged and slowly inched the truck along.

"That's a neat trick, with the blood," I commented.

"It's a disguise so the dead do not recognize you are alive," he shrugged. It was the most he had said so far, and I had a feeling the most he'd say for awhile.

"They're not really dead though, only infected."

He looked at me like I was crazy.

"Have you been under a rock?" he asked with light humor.

"Close. You know more about...the dead.. than I do. Can you explain?"

"A human gets bitten, they get infected, they die. They come back."

"So they die, and then they reanimate as one of those things?" I was incredulous. He nodded.

"If anyone dies they will come back as a biter, a bite just ensures you will die. To kill the dead you must destroy the brain."

"I'm looking for my mom. Her name is Josie, Josie Birch. She looks a lot like me, auburn hair, green eyes, lots of freckles."

"This is a small town, if your mom is dead you'll see her wandering around sooner or later," he said bluntly. I winced.

"So you don't know where she is then?"

His gaze softened and he shook his head.

"Well, were do you need a lift to?" I changed the subject.

"I have nowhere to be, I might hang around if that's alright."

I didn't know whether to allow him to hitchhike with me of to kick him out of the car. Niko made that decision for me as she revealed herself from her hiding place and curled up on his lap. He stroked her scruff softly, smiling down at the cat fondly.

"That's Niko," I introduced. "What's your name?"

"Atticus."

"Is the last name Finch?" I jibed. He didn't laugh.

"Funny how we are both name after literary figures. I'm named after an author _(Horse)_ and you're named after a fictional character."

By the look Atticus was giving me I took it he didn't find it very funny at all. I drove for a few minutes before I parked in someones driveway. We watched the herd of dead pass by us slowly. No one them had my mothers signature auburn bob and green eyes. I allowed myself a tinge of relief. But she could still be dead. Or she could be alive and safe somewhere, looking for me as desperately as I am looking for her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Th End of the World**

Atticus didn't talk much, and I could tell he was annoyed with my constant jabber. But I couldn't help it, I was in desperate need of conversation. After Atticus cleaned off the blood he had used to disguise himself from the infected, I was better able to assess how old he was. It's hard to tell at his age, he could have been anywhere from twenty to thirty. I was only seventeen, but already I had aged from stress and fear.

Atticus had brown hair that fell to the base of his neck. His eyes were large and brown as well, so dark I couldn't discern between pupil and iris. His skin was tan and he was tall, maybe a few inches over six foot. His presence made me nervous. He was a stranger who essentially welcomed himself to my car. I didn't know his intentions, or anything about him. He hadn't tried anything yet. But still I kept the loaded revolver within grabbing distance at all times.

I pulled the truck into a deserted gas station, a little ways outside of Muldoon. The gas station in my town had been turned to rubble from the fires. I still had yet to find out who set everything on fire, and why. The rest of the country, and world for that matter, was succumbing to the infections. But Muldoon's seclusion and small numbers meant we would have been able to survive for at least a few more months before everything was overrun. I guess someone just wanted to speed the process of death along.

"You gas uo the truck if any of the tanks are still working," I ordered and slipped out of the truck.

I glanced cautiously around the gas station. No biters, as Atticus called them, were roaming the area. I took the keys with me so Atticus couldn't desert me here. The Chevron had already been broken into I discerned by the smashed in windows and ajar door. The shelves were barren. The only remaining things were gum, undesirable candy, and decorative key chains. Better than nothing.

"Score!" I smiled as I found a roll of laffy taffy. Biting off a stale piece of the chewy candy I continued exploring the gas station. _Might as well relieve myself while I'm here,_ I though and opened the door to the bathrooms.

A snapping female face lunged towards me, bloody fingers outstretched and grabbing. I screamed and tried to slam the bathroom door closed, but she somehow wiggled out and was pursing me through the isles of empty shelves. Finally she cornered me. I kicked out with a leg to throw her back but she rebounded and grabbed my shoulder as I tried to bolt again.

Rancid breath wafted over me as she clacked her jaws, already trying to tear me apart. I kept pushing with my arms, all while trying to get my skin from exposure to her flesh biting teeth.

Her brain was splattered all over the wall a second later. Atticus loomed over me and her unmoving body, a piece of plywood raised which had dealt the blow that ended her existence. I wouldn't have called it a life, seeing as she wasn't alive.

Atticus grabbed my hand and helped me to my feet, checking me over to see if I was injured. I realized a moment later he wasn't preoccupied with my well being, but rather, to see if I had been bitten.

"I'm clean," I snapped and shoved him away from me.

"I found some gas cans out back and filled the tank," he said, ignoring my tone.

"Great." I replied monosyllabicly.

"If you want to find your mom I recommend searching the woods. Since Muldoon isn't safe there's a few groups camping it out. Some people have hoeld up in their houses and boarded the doors."

"Thanks Atticus, really. But maybe we should go our separate ways now," I said abruptly, trying to end this weird little alliance. He looked confused.

"Why?"

"I don't know you, and this is something I have to do alone," I shrugged, not making eye contact. He threw the ply wood on the ground with such force I jumped. He stomped out of the Chevron, and right into my truck. He sat in the passenger seat gloomily, waves of anger rolled off of him. He couldn't leave me since I had the car keys, but I couldn't exactly force him away unless I was willingly to shoot him, which I wasn't.

"Fine," I grumbled although he couldn't hear me. I slowly and painstakingly entered the truck and silently started it up.

"Where are these forest campsites you mentioned?" I said to break the tension. He cracked a smile.

"I though you wanted to rescue your mom on your own."

I almost hissed.

"Whatever, just take the next left and follow the gravel road till you see a sign for the hot springs. They'll be there," he directed.

We drove in silence until he found my stash of CD's. He browsed through my collection, making grunts of appreciation for my taste in music. He pulled out a CD and inserted it into the radio. Billy Joel came blasting through the speakers. Atticus tapped his foot to the beat, and I couldn't hep but crack a smile.

"I changed my mind, you can stay!" I shouted over the music. He grinned, but he already knew he wasn't going anywhere.


End file.
